The Beach Trip
by MirageMeister
Summary: Leaf Green has never really had a positive experience at the beach. In an almost freaky way, every experience is horrible for her. This year, there's a chance that things may be different. Will this year be the year Leaf actually enjoys herself at the beach? Her friends are more than willing to help in their own way . Chaos ensues. -AU- Eventual/Implied ORS, CS, PokeS, & PenguinS.


**Hey! So I know it's been awhile since I've updated _Midsummer Nightmare _or _Virtually Perfect_, and for that, I'm sorry. It's just that I've had so many other ideas for the ORS pairing that keep taking up space in my brain and make it impossible for me to really write good-quality chapters for those stories.**

** It also doesn't help that my flashdrive containing those files broke -_- Hopefully I'll be able to recover those files, but yeah, expect a mini-hiatus for those stories.**

**This story is one of those that are taking up space in my brain. I just wrote it down to get it out of the way. If you spot any grammatical issues, let me know. Lately, I've been just plain lazy when it comes to proofreading myself. Probably because I have a hard time spotting anything wrong until months later.**

**ANYWAY, sorry for any major OOCness from any character's part. I'm really out of it.**

***Title seriously sucks and is open to any suggestions.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon...at all. Seriously.**

* * *

Leaf Green has never had a single good experience at the beach. She's freaking fifteen, and has gone to the beach twice a year for every year of her life, with the rare exception of this year. Thirty-two times, and not a single one of them was happy. Well, technically eight of them were neutral, considering she couldn't really remember much from before she was five.

When she was six, she spent practically all of her time on the beach making sand castles, which she'd like to add took a _lot_ of time. Gary and Ash helped her at first, but the two got rowdy and kept knocking it down during their arguments. She finally completed one, and had waved at her mom to get her attention….only for the waves to come crashing over her beautiful castle of sand, leaving a slightly soaked and irritated Leaf in its wake.

At the age of seven, Leaf was slightly wary of beaches, and opted to have fun in the water instead. She had fun wave-jumping, but Gary kept insisting they kept going out further and further into the water. Not wanting to seem chicken, Leaf agreed. What she didn't know was that she had ended up drifting further down the shore from the adults' umbrellas. She panicked for twenty minutes when she was unable to find her mom. Eventually, Leaf was able to make it back to her mom, but by then, her mood was foul and her feet ached from walking over the tiny pebbles and shells in the sand.

When she was nine, she, Ash, and Gary had all found a starmie. They all held it, preparing to make a wish and then cast it back to sea, but the starmie struggled away from the kids, and its rough skin scratched Leaf in the arm. It wasn't a very deep scratch, but the fact that her arm was bleeding-even if a little- had freaked her out. Gary didn't help at all when he started spewing out facts about starmies and poison. Or something like that. Leaf was too busy panicking and becoming almost hysterical because of Gary's factoids.

The Tentacruel incident happened when she was ten. At that point, the trio boogie-boarded and spent their day on the waves. But the waves weren't big enough for Leaf, so she went out further than the boys. As she laughed and called out to them, she felt something touch her legs in one fluid motion. Suspecting a wild pokémon, Leaf began to swim away. Imagine her horror when she couldn't feel her legs. She attempted to stay afloat, but without her legs, it was almost impossible. She practically blacks out afterwards, but she remembers Gary and Ash coming after her, as well Gary carrying her back to shore.

The following year, slightly fearful of the sea, Leaf opts to stay on the beach. She feels rather lonely (and childish) still making sandcastles by herself. Eventually, Gary and Ash get the hint of her loneliness and come back from boogie-boarding. They bury her up to her neck in sand. To Leaf's dismay, the two boys quickly forgot about digging her out when the ice cream boat comes motoring in. She gets a really bad sunburn on her cheeks at the end of the day; not to mention, she does not get any ice cream. By the time she is released from the sand, the ice cream boat is gone.

For the sake of Leaf, the incident that occurs at the age of twelve will not be mentioned.

At the age of thirteen, Leaf has come to almost abhor beaches. True, it brought Ash, Gary, and her together every year, but the sand almost made her miserable. It got into everything, and ruined the taste of any food she ate while on the beach. This year, her mom lets her go scuba diving, and the trio set off to watch the fish pokémon. Unfortunately, just as they are going back, Leaf happens to scrape her foot against a very pointy rock in the water. It makes a gash in her right foot and causes blood to gush out. Gary carries her back to shore once more, and Ash runs off to find a first-aid kit and the adults. The boys stay by her beach chair the rest of the day after a bandage is wrapped under her foot and her mom declares that Leaf is not allowed to go into the water. Though Leaf is touched by the boys' sacrifice (a stark difference from last year), she only feels guilty afterwards for ruining their experience too.

When she's fourteen, she plays beach volleyball with the boys, but accidentally slips in a sand dune and knocks over the net. She falls into the sand, slightly sticky with sweat, and completely entangled in the volleyball net. It takes half-an hour for the boys to finally finish helping her out of the net. By then, their opponents have left, grumbling.

One could go on and on about the countless bad experiences that Leaf Green has had at the beach, but the point of the past experience retelling has probably already been reached: Leaf hates the beach.

* * *

"It is so….._hot_!" Dawn declares dramatically, fanning her face with her hand as she practically wilts. "It's so hot out here in Kanto!"

The bluenette wears a two-piece bathing suit, the top being black, while the bottom is pink. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail, and her scarf is long discarded.

"That's because Sinnoh's like a freezer region," May points out helpfully, loudly sipping on her lemonade afterwards. She dons a yellow tankini with a pair of black sunglasses atop her head.

"Still, it's almost one hundred degrees out here," Misty agrees with Dawn, practically collapsing onto her pool deck chair at the table as she joins them. "Even the pool is awfully hot."

The red-head's blue one-piece swim suit is still dripping wet from the countless laps Misty has just swam. Her red hair is pulled into her trademark ponytails.

"Well, this heat wave's supposed to last for a while," Leaf reminds them as she flips to the next page on her magazine.

"Don't you guys have somewhere cool here?" Dawn practically whines. Her face is flushed, and sweat beads on her forehead.

"There's air-conditioning," Leaf deadpans.

"How are you not hot?" May asks the other brunette in curiosity.

Contrary to her friends, Leaf is simply wearing her normal outfit, with the exception of flip-flops instead of sneakers.

Leaf shrugs, "I'm more than used to being out in the sun all day long."

"More like Leaf uses her hat to her advantage," Gary rolls his eyes as he pulls up a chair to their table and plops himself down into it.

Leaf sends a look at him, and Gary holds his hand up in mock surrender. "Free region. I can sit here."

Before Leaf can say anything, the other four boys come bounding over to the table.

"Lemonade!" Ash cries in delight as he pours himself a glass from the pitcher.

Kenny stands by Dawn's chair for a few moments before the bluenette sighs and scotches over, patting the now empty spot next to her. Her childhood friend immediately squeezes next to her, flashing her a cheshire smile. "Thanks, DeeDee."

"Don't call me that," Dawn snaps, a little testy under the weather.

"Someone's a little cranky today," Jimmy comments, raising an eyebrow at the usually cheery bluenette.

"She's feeling hot today," May explains, "We all are."

"Don't tell me you girls can't take the heat," Drew looks at all four of the girls. "I mean, I expected this from _June_, but not from all of you girls. It's almost disappointing."

"Shaddup, Drew," May scowls slightly, understanding his double-meaning. "Don't tell me Your Grassheaded-ness isn't frying under the sun either."

"Let's go to the beach!" Ash suggests, randomly bursting out enthusiastically. "Gary, Leaf, and I know the best beach ever!"

"No!" Leaf moans, letting her head fall onto the table.

"Great idea, Ash!" Misty beams, "I can't believe that we didn't think of that before."

"The beach is named Myrtle Beach," Gary says, "It's a rather cool place. The waves are amazing, and the sand is a nice white. The boardwalk's pretty fun too. Ash and I were planning on going there this weekend."

Leaf only bangs her head on the table.

"Well, you can count me and April in," Drew shrugs.

"Who said you could speak for me?" May demands indignantly.

Drew raises an eyebrow, "So you _don't_ want to go?"

"No," May says meekly, then quiets down. She cannot argue with that.

"The beach will be fun," Misty smiles, "I can't wait to go out into the water!"

Dawn-previously quiet as she tapped away on her poké navigator- pipes in, "It's only eighty degrees there! I'm in!"

Kenny quickly adds, "Me too, since even Deedee's going."

"You had me at 'cool'," Jimmy grins.

Leaf stays sullenly silent as she buries her face in her arms.

"What's up with Leaf?" Jimmy asks, gesturing to the brunette with a jerk of his thumb.

"Oh." Gary shrugs nonchalantly. "She just hates the beach."

"Hates the beach?" Misty blinks in shock.

"Who would hate the beach?" May says incredulously.

"Leaf does," Ash answers, as if it's the most obvious answer in the world. "Gary just said that."

"She hasn't exactly had the….best experience at the beach." Gary winces slightly as he recalls the countless events. Leaf was either really unlucky or extremely accident-prone.

"How?" Drew asks. "I mean, I met March on the beach, and even _that_ didn't spoil it for me."

May smacks him lightly on the arm, "That's so mean, Drew!"

"Chill out, January, I'm just joking."

"Well… there was this one ti-" Gary opens his mouth to speak.

Leaf abruptly lifts her head up from the table to glare murderously at her brunet childhood friend. "We agreed to _never_ speak of it. It's taboo."

"I don't recall any conversation along that line," Gary says amusedly.

"Neither do I," Ash chimes in. Not that he had a reliable memory.

"But if you beg, I won't tell them….for now." Gary grins devilishly.

"You suck," Leaf groans, burying her head once more.

"Now, Leafy," Gary mockingly wags his finger at her in disapproval. "You know that's not a nice thing to say."

"What do you want me to say? That you're the greatest thing since sliced bread and I should just bow down to your awesomeness?" Leaf retorts sarcastically.

"Now you see it my way," the brunet grins. "Would it kill you to praise me?"

Misty lightly hits him in the head with her knuckles, "Like your ego needs anymore swelling."

"What happened?" May asks, curiosity taking the best of her.

Drew flicks the back of May's head, "Didn't you just listen, August? It's taboo."

May glares at him before rubbing her head, "I was just curious…"

* * *

She wakes up in the back of a van. The vehicle is moving, from what the window tells Leaf from her laying down position.

Groggily, Leaf manages to murmur a "Wha-?"

"Finally you're up, Sleeping Beauty." A familiar masculine voice rumbles near her ear, and she realizes she is pressed to his chest.

Leaf jolts up with a start, hitting her head against the roof of the vehicle.

"Arceus!" she curses, rubbing her head.

"Careful," Gary tugs her gently back down. "Geez, panicky much?"

Leaf glares at him as she demands, "Why am I in a van? And where am I going?"

"I told you it was a bad idea to kidnap her, Gary," Ash turns his body to face them from the row in front of them. He munches on some crackers, the crumbs of which are on his cheeks.

Drew smacks the raven-haired trainer on the head, "You weren't supposed to say that, idiot."

Kenny shakes his head at the two boys' behavior, turning his head from in front of the two boys. "Seriously, guys?"

"What possessed you to kidnap me?" Leaf scotches away from Gary, ignoring her body's protests.

"Shh!" Dawn shushes them from next to Kenny. "Keep your voices down. May finally fell asleep."

Blinkingly, Leaf takes a better look at her surroundings.

In the front, Misty drives the van with Jimmy in the passenger's seat, tapping on the dashboard to music on a low volume that Leaf cannot hear. The second row consists of Kenny, Dawn, and May; the first sitting in the middle of the two girls, sort of serving as a sort of pillow. Meanwhile Ash and Drew lounge about in the third row ahead of them, though Leaf does not miss the glance the grasshead gives to Kenny, frowning at him. Various bags lay on the floor, but Leaf can tell that they are more of personal bags.

To Leaf's horror, most of them contain beach items that spill slightly out of it: sunglasses, sunscreen, beach toys (really, Ash?), inflatable beach balls, etc.

Leaf growls as she roughly grabs the headrest in front of her, "Please tell me we are not on the way to the beach."

"Actually, we're on our way to a rest stop," Ash smiles cheerfully, either oblivious to Leaf's ire or bravely ignoring it. "We need to get lunch."

"Ash and May ate all of our snacks," Drew sweatdrops.

"Does my mom know about this?" Leaf demands, turning to the now quiet Gary.

"Packed your stuff up and even loaded it into the van herself," Gary grins widely at her.

Leaf almost wants to smack that smile of his face for attempting –and succeeding- to calm her down a bit.

"I'm still in my pajamas," Leaf notes, looking down at herself. Last night was _not_ a good night for her to be wearing her green shorts and pink tank top with an eevee on it.

"Would you have preferred me to change you out of it?" Gary raises an eyebrow, and Leaf can just see the perverted thoughts running through his head.

Leaf smacks him in the chest, "Like you weren't looking down when I was sleeping."

"I was an honest gentleman," Gary declares in mock-indignation, but his ears turn pink.

* * *

"Get out," Leaf narrows her eyes at Gary, her hand on the handle of the door. "_Now_."

"Aww, c'mon, Leafy," Gary begs childishly. "I won't peek. Promise."

"Besides," he adds, "You know the windows are tainted."

Leaf crosses her arms, but appears to be contemplating it.

"No," she decides, abruptly pulling the van door shut.

"You can't make me go away," Gary's voice rings through the door.

"Yes, but I can make your chances of having children lower," Leaf retorts, threatening him.

"Leafy, you wound me," Gary the Pervert sighs before his footsteps sound his departure.

Leaf checks through the trunk window to see if he's gone before rummaging through her bag for a change in clothes. She dresses quickly in a white tank top and blue jean shorts before exiting and locking the van.

Kenny and Dawn wait for her on the front steps of the rest stop.

"Gary went inside looking rather disappointed," Dawn smiles coyly at her friend.

Leaf rolls her eyes at the implication. She explains, "The idiot thought I would need some protection against some random pervert suddenly opening the car door while I change. Apparently I'll be defenseless then."

Kenny snorts, "We all know that 'random pervert' would've probably been him."

Grinning, Leaf high-fives the brunet boy.

Dawn shakes her head at the two, "Honestly, you guys should treat Gary with more respect. I'm sure he's not like that. He's more of the deep poem type of guy."

Kenny snorts as he stretches his arms, and Leaf swears that she hears a crack.

"You alright?" Leaf asks in concern.

Kenny only groans, "Well, I learned that my future career as a human pillow is a very painful career."

Dawn puts her hands on her hips, "Are you saying that I'm fat?"

"N-no!" Kenny waves his hands frantically. "Just that my arms aren't used to being used as a pillow."

"Well too bad," Dawn snatches his arm and- to Leaf and Kenny's shock- snuggles her face against it. "You're just going to have to get used to it."

Leaf excuses herself from the two childhood friends from Sinnoh, deciding to hunt down the two Hoenn coordinators instead. Hopefully the two wouldn't be making out or something. She swears, it's like everyone's pairing off or something.

"Please, Drew? I'll pay you back!" Leaf hears May's pleading voice as she nears the vending machines closer to the entrance.

"Forget it, June." Comes the grass head's reply. "Don't you think you've had enough to eat already?"

"I have a fast metabolism!" May protests.

"So I've heard," Drew sighs, but Leaf hears coins clinking into the machine anyway.

"Hey guys," Leaf greets as she stops next to them.

"Gary, Misty, and Jimmy went to buy food from the food court," Drew informs her.

"What about Ash?" Leaf asks.

May giggles before pointing to behind Leaf, "Look!"

When Leaf turns around, she spots her other childhood friend, frantically shaking another vending machine. Other spectators eye him either warily or with slight amusement.

"You need help there, Asher?" Leaf walks up to him, trying to suppress a smile.

"Leafy!" Ash jumps up and shakes her shoulders wildly. "THE VENDING MACHINE ATE MY MONEY."

Leaf looks carefully at the machine behind him, "Um…Asher, you do know that you have to push the buttons on the key pad, right?"

Ash blinks rapidly, turning to glance at the screen on the vending machine. His dollar is still in there in terms of credits.

"Oh," Ash smiles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck.

Leaf snorts in amusement, "Oh, Asher. How you amuse me so."

A few minutes later, Jimmy, Misty, and Gary all come out of the rest stop, arms laden with food.

"Down boy," Misty says as she walks past a practically salivating Ash.

"You're drooling, Ashy Boy," Gary sniggers as he follows.

"Hey Leaf," Jimmy says brightly to Leaf as he nears her. Leaf walks beside him.

"How long have you guys been driving before I woke up?" she asks him in curiosity.

"We're about an hour or two away from the beach now," Jimmy informs her with a smile. "You sure slept a lot."

"Well," Leaf points out, "you guys _did_ practically take shifts trying to keep me awake as long as possible."

The day before, the group could not get Leaf to budge in her decision to not come along. She was finally free that year from going on the yearly beach trip. Of course, unbeknownst to her, the group (more specifically, Gary) worked out a plan to tire out Leaf and then just load her up in the van and take off.

It had been suspicious to her when Dawn wanted to go shopping with her, followed by May and Ash to go an all-you-can-eat buffet, Misty on a long hike, Jimmy skateboarding, Kenny and watching a whole marathon of the most boring documentaries (though admittedly, Kenny fell asleep first).

Then there was Drew and his self-defense class specifically for her ("C'mon, you hang out with _Gary_ most of the time." "At the same time, I think your statement just proved I can defend myself.") and Gary basically doing a multitude of activities to distract her. Then the girls contacted her to pretty much start the process all over again. By the time she managed to get rid of them all, Leaf practically collapsed onto her bed.

"True," Jimmy agrees. "Though I feel kinda bad about the way we got you to come with us."

Leaf shrugs, "I'm over it now. It's not like you guys could've gotten me to go any other way."

"Besides," she adds with a wicked grin and a mischievous look in her eyes. "I'm going to make Gary regret it."

Jimmy's smile freezes as he sweatdrops, "Why do I have a feeling that things are only going to get crazy from here?"

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Ash asks impatiently, long since bored of conversation and staring out the window.

"Turn right," Kenny reads to Jimmy from the front, ignoring Ash's question.

"I'm so bored," May sighs loudly.

Dawn eyes May and Ash in exasperation, "Arceus, you guys are the _worst_ travel companions ever."

Drew laughs, "And yet Ash manages to find a new girl in each region to tag along."

Misty remains silent, though Leaf can see that Misty's figure stiffens.

"He still can never top my whole cheerleading squad," Gary brags.

Leaf flicks him the ear, "Yes," she teases, "you and your blue convertible and cheer team."

"Did you _ever_ even sleep outdoors in your pokémon journey?" Misty asks, laughing.

"Of course I did," Gary splutters indignantly.

"Doubt it," Both Misty and Leaf say in unison.

"Are we there yet?" Ash asks once more, cutting Gary off from the chance to respond.

"For the ten millionth time, Ash: _NO_," Drew snaps in annoyance.

"Don't exaggerate, Drew," Dawn rolls her eyes. "Ash asked, like, maybe fifty times?"

"Because that's _so_ much better," Kenny snorts, laughing.

May, feeling bored out of her mind, begins to play a game.

"I spy with my little eye…." She says loudly, trying to attract everyone's attention (well, except for Jimmy. He's driving, _duh_).

"…something green," the brunette finishes after casting a quick glance around for an object.

"…my hair?" Drew deadpans, pretty sure of where this is going.

"Nope!" May sings, sticking her tongue out at him. He thought he was sooo smart. She did _not_ think about his hair _that_ often.

"Really?" Dawn says in surprise. "I would've thought-"

"Is it outside of the car?" Gary asks with a tone of seriousness, cutting of Dawn's speculation.

Leaf casts him an odd look.

"What?" Gary holds his hands up in mock surrender, "Can't a guy enjoy a few car games?"

"It's Drew's eyes," Misty guesses.

"What?!" May splutters. "No! Why does everyone keep thinking it has to do with Drew?!"

"No reason," Both Misty and Dawn shift uncomfortably.

"It's a tree outside that we passed about three minutes ago," Leaf says in monotone. She had played this game several times with Ash as a kid, and that was always his go-to object.

"Ding ding ding!" May claps her hands together. "We have a winner!"

"Seriously, April?" Drew gives her a look of disbelief. "A _tree_?"

"Well, I would've done your hair, but it's not _really_ green!" May retorts.

"IT'S ALL NATURAL." Drew's face becomes red.

"Dude, take a chill pill," Jimmy comments, eyeing him from the rearview mirror.

Leaf decides to tune out everybody else at this point. The closer she got to Myrtle Beach, the more irritated she got. She reminds herself though, that this time, she has more friends coming along than just Ash and Gary. Would their presence make the beach experience better?

The brunette casts a glance at her childhood friend, who, in turn, is watching the chaos of their friends ensue.

"Do you think this year will be any different?" Leaf asks him quietly.

"Of course," Gary answers, casting her a look of disbelief. "This year, it's just us teens for the weekend, and it's not just the three of us."

"Still," Leaf rubs her arm uncomfortably, "I'm kinda scared of what might happen this year."

"Don't worry about it," Gary turns to look straight ahead. "It's your paranoia that probably creates those situations."

"Besides," he adds after slight hesitation. "I'll be with you for almost every step of the way."

Over the years, Gary's grown more attentive to Leaf's mood when they're at the beach. Each year, her unhappiness seemed to increase, which only served to make him and Ash unhappy too. Leaf did honestly try to have fun, but one could easily tell her heart wasn't truly in it, and that she'd rather be miles away.

This year he promises to both himself and Leaf that she'll be happy. He'll make her be happy even if it ruins this beach excursion for him.

* * *

**Yeah, so hopefully the beginning wasn't too long and boring for you. I know some of it doesn't sound so bad, but it just kinda piles over the years for her. Some of these experiences are true stories. (Yours truly is a bit of a klutz...but don't get me wrong. I love the beach). Unfortunately, the ones that are true are the ones that are _actually_ the probably worst experiences of Leaf. **

**Anyway, let me know what you think, because then I'll actually try to update this quickly. Reviews are my motivation and my twisted way of feeling like people read my stories.**

**This'll probably be a short fic considering how they're only here for two (maybe three) days.**

**Please give me your comments, suggestions, and opinions!**


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